Global Missions Health Conference Held At CBU

The conference, operated by Medical Missions.com, is held in Kentucky every year with
more than 3,000 attendees. A West Coast conference was added this year, which attracted
students from CBU, Azusa, Biola, Pepperdine, Vangaurd, LaSierra, Loma Linda, University
of California, Riverside, and Western. The event was hosted by CBU's College of Allied
Health and School of Nursing.

"The reasons to host only a student event is to have clarity and focus of message
and to invest in those who are about to step into their professional fields," Will
Rogers, executive director of Medical Missions.com and GMHC, said prior to the conference.
"The medical field requires a significant amount of time in preparation and investment
for education. These two factors can create significant distance and barriers to long
term goals for missions. We believe that if we can have the healthy discussions early
and connect people to the right resources there's a significantly higher chance of
full-time service workers."

Kendall McFarland, a CBU nursing junior, attended the event, which was held April
10-11, to learn about opportunities and to hear what it is like on the mission field.

"I came to meet missionaries, to hear what it's like on the mission field, to really
gain more perspective on what's happening globally and where I might fit into that,"
she said. "What is it really like and what opportunities are out there for me as a
student? I want more of a realistic perspective and to hear what medical opportunities
there are."

Being a doctor allowed Fielding to go into many countries, he told students.

"Health care gets you into closed countries; it gets you into restricted parts of
closed countries," he said. "It gets you into homes; it opens up people's hearts to
the gospel."

To be God's disciples, students need to let go of their ambitions and let God use
them, even if they don't know how things will work, Fielding said.

"Obey. You understand God through obedience," he said. "That's how you grow in spiritual
maturity. You show up in faith and say, ‘I don't know nothing. Tell me what to do
and then he moves you further along."